EU greenlights anti-dumping duties on Chinese light bulbs

(LUXEMBOURG) - The European Union approved on Monday a
one-year extension of anti-dumping duties running as high as 66 percent
on Chinese-made, energy-saving light bulbs.

"The measures are
aimed at addressing unfair competitive advantages resulting from the
dumping of imports onto the (EU) market," the 27-nation bloc said in a
statement issued at a foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg.

The
decision came despite a high-level EU drive to use more low-energy
light bulbs and a push from Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson to let
the six-year-old duties lapse when they were due to expire this month.

German
lighting company Osram, a subsidiary of Siemens, led efforts to renew
the duties because they hit Dutch rival Philips harder than Osram and
even though both companies produce in China, EU officials said earlier
this year.

The duties also cover imports of energy-saving light
bulbs from Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam so as to prevent
Chinese producers from passing their exports through those countries.

The
duties have proved highly controversial and their renewal has been
attacked by free-trade supporters and environmentalists alike.

A
lawyer for specialist Italian lighting company Targetti said Monday
that the group, which makes and imports light bulbs from China, was
going to challenge the duties before the European Court of Justice.

More
generally, booming Chinese exports have frequently divided the European
Union between those eager for cheap consumer products and those who
want to keep them out in order to protect European jobs.

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